


Primum Non Nocere

by anthologia



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-25
Updated: 2013-01-25
Packaged: 2017-11-26 21:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/654654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anthologia/pseuds/anthologia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This the life you lead: trading time for time. Twelve years of school, four years of college, four years of medical school; residency, private practice, Starfleet Medical. Cramming facts into your mind about the body, what makes it tick, what sustains life and what snuffs it out, how to encourage one and fight the other.</p><p>This is the way of the universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Primum Non Nocere

This the life you lead: trading time for time. Twelve years of school, four years of college, four years of medical school; residency, private practice, Starfleet Medical. Cramming facts into your mind about the body, what makes it tick, what sustains life and what snuffs it out, how to encourage one and fight the other.  
  
 _One, two, three, four._  
  
You spend the years of your life caring, watching, lending a helping hand where needed. You smile and joke and argue, and when the time comes, your hands don’t falter, because this is what you have chosen for yourself.   
  
_Five, six, seven, eight._  
  
You know, as you’ve always known, that your job will never be finished. You hold together muscle and sinew, monitor heartbeats, splice together broken bones, coax one, two, three more breaths. You are fighting a losing battle, because one day, everyone you have touched will slow, and falter, and die. Entropy is the true constant, the way of the universe.  
  
 _Nine, ten._  
  
You know that, no matter how much you learn and do, it will all end. One day, your hands will begin to shake. Your mind will falter, and your blood will cease pumping through your veins. Your life will ebb, your heartbeat will slow, and some other doctor will begin trading pieces of his life for yours. This is the way of the universe.   
  
_“Time of death. Call it.”_  
  
This is the life you lead.


End file.
